I am going through Federal spending categories, and categories in macroeconomic national account categories.
And yes indeed much of this is due to regulation (red tape), and the effect of judicial decisions and consequent legal risks.
Noted. BTW, the argument that excessive QE or debt spending is “#1” won’t get harsh criticism from me. I just think we could get everything we need done, done, without needing either, except in time of a major war, as in WW2, or in time of major economic shock or natural disaster — say (one of my favorite fears) the New Madrid Fault decides to repeat a months-long series of epic earthquakes...
The ridiculously litigious nature of our gov’t and society is right up there too. What an incredible burden on a country!! :-(